The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-09-06
An Interesting Incident of the
State Fair, at Sedalia i'm
1856.
R.W. Stevens. q Commercial TRAY
eIer Relieved of His Watch,
Chain and LOcket.
The Story of the Case-Capture
of the Thieves and Recovery
of the Watch.

night OF the 2ord OF September, 1886,
number of robberies were commit
ted in Sedalia. 1t was during the
progress of the State Fair, and the
light-fngered gentry had fiocked here
to ply their vocation. During the
day, private dwellings were rified, while
the people were at the fair grounds,
and at night, rooms in the various no,
tells were invaded, and the sleeping
guests clothes were "gone through"
in the most approved style of the
thieves art.
VALUABLE TICKER TAKEN.
Among the sleeping victims was r.
w. Stevens, a gentleman who has
travelled in this territory for Cincin-
natl leather house, the past seventeen
years. Mr.. Stevens registered at
Sicher's on the night of the 23rd, and
the hotel being crowded with guests,
he was assigned to a room in the Ilgen
block, across Ohio street, where the
hotel was in the habit of securing
extra rooms.
There are two others in the room"
said the urbane clerk, Dave Hughes,
addressing Mr.. Stevens, zone is r. S.
Wade, of Lamonte whom know, and
the other is a stranger. If you have
any valuables. you had better put
them in the safe.
Mr., Stevens declined the offer of
the clerk, saying he had only few
dollars. besides his gold watch and
chain, and he was acquainted with
Mr.. Wade.
WENT To THE ROOM.
r. S. Wade got up from his bed
and opened the door for Stevens and
the bell boy to enter and when once
in, Mr.. Stevens took a survey of the
room, and the other ledger, who was
there with his eyes wide open. Ste.
vens noticed the color of the mans
eyes, also a peculiarly shaped nasal
organ, which ornamented the front of
his face, but being tired, was soon
asleep and lost to all thoughts of his
ticker and the 1886, which he was
possessOr of.
At seven o'clock in the morning,
Stevens awoke and found his watch.
chain, locket Charm on the cnain)
and 1885 gone, also both Mr.. Wade
and the other lodger. He lost no
time in reporting his loss to the hotel
proprietors, who used every endeavor
to ferret out the robber, but without
avail. A few days before the robbery,
Mr.. Stevens had had his watch cleaned
by jeweler at Holden. The watch
repairer had kept the number and
make of the watch, and Stevens at
once telegraphed a description of the
watch to all the principal towns and
cities west of the Mississippi river.
ON THEIR TRAIL.
Two days after the robbery, five
men were seen in Sedalia by Stevens,
who suspected them as cracksmen
and he Swallowed them. They all
went to Kansas City and Stevens
followed on the next train.
They were Swallowed by the
Kansas City police, who kept close
watch of their movements. On the
Sunday following the robbery, one of
the five was arrested and on his per-
son was found a watch, the property
of gentleman from Leavenworth,
who lost his watch in Kansas City,
the incidents of which are not known
to the writer. To make long story
short, he was convicted before Judge
White, and now languishes In the
penitentiary at Jefferson City.
TO CHICAGO.
The remaining four went to Chi
csgo, and a description followed to
the police. 1t was too hot in Chicago
to stay long, and very soon three
sought shelter in Indianapolis, Ind.
The other one was lost sig ht of in
Chicago. He left there about the
same time the other three did, but
who he was, or where he went, will
remain forever unwritten. The 20.
lice at Indianapolis were notified of
the presence of the crooks, who shad-
owed them so vigorously, that two of
them went to Cincinnati. The third
one also dropped out of sight and no
one but his pals could tell what be-
came of him.
ATA sPARRING EXHIBITION.
One night in November, 1886, at
low dive in Cincinnati, there was a
sparring exhibition, and the motor
ious penitentiary bird and crook,
Nick Meran, was second in the
fight. He was seen on the stage, and
sighted for an escaped convict from